Instagram is dropping end-to-end encrypted chats. This is what's changing

Instagram will turn off end-to-end encryption for private chats on May 8, moving direct messages back to standard encryption.

Meta says limited adoption led to the change, which means Instagram DMs will no longer have the same privacy protections.

The shift could make messages more accessible for moderation, AI features, or ad-related processing.

It also weakens the security guarantees users had under end-to-end encrypted chats.